Coronary bypass surgery guided by multislice computed tomography angiography in a low surgical risk population

Background In patients with three-vessel disease and/or left main disease, selecting revascularization strategies based on coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) has a high level of virtual agreement with treatment decisions based on invasive coronary angiography(ICA).(1) Purpose The FASTTRACK CABG trial aims to assess the feasibility and safety of using CCTA and FFRCT as guidance for planning and performing CABG in patients with 3VD and/or LMCAD. Methods In this multicentre study, coronary artery bypass grafts (CABG) were planned and performed based on CCTA without knowledge of ICA. CABG strategy was recommended by a central Core laboratory assessing the anatomy and functionality of the coronary circulation. The primary feasibility endpoint was the percentage of operations performed without access to the ICA. The primary safety endpoint was graft patency on 30-day follow-up CCTA. Secondary endpoints included topographical adequacy of grafting, major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCE), and major bleeding events at 30 days. The study was considered positive if the lower boundary of confidence intervals(CI) for feasibility ≥75%.(2) Results The study enrolled 114 patients with a mean (standard deviation) anatomical SYNTAX Score and Society of Thoracic Surgery score of 43.6 (15.3) and 0.81 (0.63), respectively. Three patients did not undergo CABG due to the patient’s preference for percutaneous treatment (n=1) or lack of graft material. Unblinding ICA was required in one case, yielding a feasibility of 99.1% (95%CI: 95.2%-100%). The concordance and agreement in revascularization planning between the ICA- and CCTA-Heart Team was 82.9% with a moderate kappa of 0.58 (95%CI:0.50-0.66). The concordance and agreement in revascularization planning between the CCTA-Heart Team and actual treatment was 83.7% with a substantial kappa of 0.61 (95%CI:0.53-0.68). The 30-day follow-up CCTA was performed in 102 (91.9%) of the 111 operated patients, which showed an anastomosis patency rate of 92.6%. At 30 days, the incidence of MACCE was 7.2% whereas major bleeding was 2.7%. Conclusions CABG guided by CCTA is feasible and has an acceptable safety profile in a selected population of complex coronary artery disease.